Mandatory service being voted on! ALERT!!!!

Mandatory service being voted on! ALERT!!!!
SEC. 6104. DUTIES.

(a) General Purpose- The purpose of the Commission is to gather and analyze information in order to make recommendations to Congress to--

(1) improve the ability of individuals in the United States to serve others and, by doing so, to enhance our Nation and the global community;

(2) train leaders in public service organizations to better utilize individuals committed to national service and volunteerism as they manage human and fiscal resources;

(3) identify and offer solutions to the barriers that make it difficult for some individuals in the United States to volunteer or perform national service; and

(4) build on the foundation of service and volunteer opportunities that are currently available.

(b) Specific Topics- In carrying out its general purpose under subsection (a), the Commission shall address and analyze the following specific topics:

(1) The level of understanding about the current Federal, State, and local volunteer programs and opportunities for service among individuals in the United States.

(2) The issues that deter volunteerism and national service, particularly among young people, and how the identified issues can be overcome.

(3) Whether there is an appropriate role for Federal, State, and local governments in overcoming the issues that deter volunteerism and national service and, if appropriate, how to expand the relationships and partnerships between different levels of government in promoting volunteerism and national service.

(4) Whether existing databases are effective in matching community needs to would-be volunteers and service providers.

(5) The effect on the Nation, on those who serve, and on the families of those who serve, if all individuals in the United States were expected to perform national service or were required to perform a certain amount of national service.

(6) Whether a workable, fair, and reasonable mandatory service requirement for all able young people could be developed, and how such a requirement could be implemented in a manner that would strengthen the social fabric of the Nation and overcome civic challenges by bringing together people from diverse economic, ethnic, and educational backgrounds.

(7) The need for a public service academy, a 4-year institution that offers a federally funded undergraduate education with a focus on training future public sector leaders.

(8) The means to develop awareness of national service and volunteer opportunities at a young age by creating, expanding, and promoting service options for elementary and secondary school students, through service learning or other means, and by raising awareness of existing incentives.

(9) The effectiveness of establishing a training program on college campuses to recruit and educate college students for national service.

(10) The effect on United States diplomacy and foreign policy interests of expanding service opportunities abroad, such as the Peace Corps, and the degree of need and capacity abroad for an expansion.

(11) The constraints that service providers, nonprofit organizations, and State and local agencies face in utilizing federally funded volunteer programs, and how these constraints can be overcome.

(12) Whether current Federal volunteer programs are suited to address the special skills and needs of senior volunteers, and if not, how these programs can be improved such that the Federal Government can effectively promote service among the `baby boomer' generation.

(c) Methodology-

(1) PUBLIC HEARINGS- The Commission shall conduct public hearings in various locations around the United States.

(2) REGULAR AND FREQUENT CONSULTATION- The Commission shall regularly and frequently consult with an advisory panel of Members of Congress appointed for such purpose by the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the majority leader of the Senate.






An Army Of Changemakers

An idea that began with Franklin D. Roosevelt's Civilian Conservation Corps 76 years ago and extends through several presidents in both parties (including Bill Clinton and George W. Bush) is about to get turbocharged.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/188270
At a dinner for members of Congress at the White House last Wednesday, Michelle Obama approached George Miller, the mustachioed Californian who chairs the influential House Education and Labor Committee. The two had never met before. The first lady told the congressman how excited she was to learn that he was preparing to move legislation on Monday to greatly expand national service. After leaving corporate law and Chicago City Hall, Michelle had worked for a nonprofit, Public Allies, dedicated to expanding service. She has been passionate on the subject ever since and sees it as central to the mission of her husband's presidency. When President Obama had lunch with Miller the next day, Obama, speaking from long domestic experience, told him jokingly that his wife meant business: "Sounds to me like you better get that bill out of committee."

On Monday, Miller will announce that the GIVE Act (don't ask what the acronym means; too clunky) is on its way to passage by the House. Because representatives of the House, Senate and White House have been working together on a bipartisan basis for weeks, the skids are now greased for quick Senate passage of the Kennedy-Hatch Act for national service, the only specific piece of legislation the president mentioned in his address to Congress last month. Differences between the House and Senate versions will be minor.

By early April, Obama will sign landmark legislation expanding AmeriCorps from 75,000 participants to 250,000 over the next few years. This will take the national-service movement to a new level, create thousands of jobs and help young Americans pay for college. It's another sign that the president and his allies on Capitol Hill intend to redeem the promise of last year's campaign a helluva lot earlier than even his most ardent supporters expected.

"There's a perfect storm around service," says Heather Higginbottom, deputy domestic-policy adviser in the White House. "You've got a president and first lady who care about service, bipartisan support on the Hill and a commitment in the budget to expansion."

The outlines of what will pass, reported here for the first time:

* A boost in the educational stipend offered in exchange for service to $5,350, with the provision that it will continue to rise in tandem with Pell grants. (Pay for full-time AmeriCorps service is about $11,000 a year.)
* A $500 education award for middle-school and high-school students who take part in a "Summer of Service" or other service activities.
* The establishment of a Clean Energy Corps, Education Corps, Healthy Futures Corps and Veterans Services Corps.
* The establishment of new ServeAmerica Fellowships.
* The expansion of the Civilian Community Corps to include work on weatherization and other energy-conservation projects.
* The expansion of the Peace Corps (to 16,000) and other existing programs.
* The designation of September 11 as a National Day of Service and Remembrance.

Miller stresses two new components in particular. "We wanted to make sure that veterans are a fundamental part of it," he says. "And all through the process we were trying to link students to education, education, education." The idea is that young people having trouble paying for school—or looking for a job after graduation from high school or college (hundreds of thousands this spring)—will consider national service. An increased college stipend in exchange for tutoring, mentoring, feeding and other service activities could be attractive for students who have been dropping out of college in record numbers.

Expanding national service is only the beginning of Obama's commitment to building an army of changemakers. A new White House Office of Social Entrepreneurship will look for ways to help thousands of nonprofit organizations improve the country. The "multiplier effect" of doing good offers "social stimulus" every bit as important as economic, though it provides that, too.

As hard times set in, working for social change is a twofer—a source of jobs and inspiration in a nation that badly needs both.

I didnt read this when it was first posted.

>The issues that deter volunteerism and national service, particularly among young people, and how the identified issues can be overcome

I'd say the answer from some hypothetical youngster contemplating this course of action would be something like:

"because we dont trust you! We dont trust you not to violate our bodies and minds with drugs and propoganda, and then send us off to get killed or maimed in a war that is most likely based on false premise or political posturing, and primarily with the dark objective of making the war machine turn to the great financial benefit of the various global military industrial complexes and thier masters. Or if we do survive to return to the motherland to be treated like scum, under-compensated, not properly re-patriated and receive shit medical support and lifelong effects from all the drugs we got pumped with."

I think thats easy enough to understand? What is the problem?

A..

this is not a funny issue but A, gotta

at your hypothetical response / and agree

This is probably a stupid question and I am sure I could find it if I read enough of the topic, but does this apply to both men and women? If so what happens if the girls all got pregnant? Who decides who is fit and able enough?